Creepshow
Creepshow. There are no other gangs in Paradigm City that inspire as much dread and fascination as this bizarre clan of misfits, Goths, Emos, psychopaths, and nightmares. Creepshow is one of the oldest of the gangs in Paradigm and while not the largest is certainly the most diversified and unpredictable. A wise hero understands to expect the unexpected when dealing with Creepshow. The History of The Creeps In the beginning, there was no Creepshow. There was only Lost Laughter, a horrific and brooding mutilated female mime whom in early 1993 began appearing on those streets in each of the Districts that were desolate, lonely, and spooky. Those whom encountered her losr their minds, inflicted with various types and degrees of insanity. For seven months she roamed silently, never actually attacking anyone but the mere sight of her alone seemed all that was necessary for her victims to become unhinged. She became something of a local bogeyman, causing ghost hunters, paranormal researchers, and brave teens to seek her out. In September of 1993 Lost Laughter disappeared again, and mysteriously as she had come. But by then she had gained something of a cult following. Disenfranchised youth began to romanticise her as some tragic phantom, spraying Lost Laughter was here on underpasses and other out of the way places and immortalizing her in song and poem. In 1997 Lost Laughter abruptly turned up once more, walking the same exact paths that she had four years previously. Her reappearance galvanized the stranger elements of Paradigm society, and candlight vigils were held along her chosen haunts. The media writing about these mentally disturbed people, Emos, Goths, and thrillseekers began to call the creepers and one of them, nobody is really sure who, began referring to the entire movement as the Creepshow. The name stuck, and the gang began to grow. Once again Lost Laughter disappeared exactly seven months to the day of her reappearance, and she's kept up that record ever since: every four years for seven months. However, Creepshow did not disappear when their bizarre 'founder' did. The gang continued to grow and expand, leeching into various districts and setting up cells, which themselves began to attract meta-humans, sociopaths, and psychopaths. The Creepshow began to also diversify, adapting into their own local cities. Some committed mild crimes, some committed brutal atrocities, some didn't commit any crimes at all but just became a haven for the disparaged and those needing to belong. But all of them continue to hold candlit vigils every four years, coming together in silent clusters, waiting for their goddess. And when she comes they all laugh, they all cheer, and they all lose their sanity. As for Lost Laughter? She doesn't even seem to be aware of any existence beyond her own. She just walks, silent, shrouded, and bringing unstoppable madness wherever she goes. Dangerous Creeps and Where To Find Them Unlike any other street gang whom all follow a predictable and recognizable modus operandi, the Creepshow have adapted themselves to mesh perfectly with whatever district they happen to be living in. The Millennium City creepshow, for instance, are largely a group of dystopian punks and cyberfreaks; the Raven's Grove Creepshow pattern themselves after black magic and Voodoo cults, and the Creepshow of Darkness Falls include a lot of Gothic trappings with pretend vampires, blood dolls, Poe enthusiasts, and Goth band followers. Creepshow is also unique in that there is no longer any one top leader. Each of the Creeps have a singular boss that operates in one specific district and as far as these bosses and their followers are concerned all of the other Creeps are just wanna-bes and pretenders. Because there are eight districts which build up the whole of Paradigm City there are likewise eight bosses of the Creeps, each thinking that their district is there own little slice of black heaven. 1. The Creepshow of Millennium City: The Dark Prince The Dark Prince is known by heroes for non-violence. His Creepshow emulates a kingdom of vampires, and is made up of teenage Goths, Emos, and other such 'creatures of the night' looking for places where they can congregate, dance, and just enjoy themselves in general. The Dark Prince gets a lot of flack from local parent groups; groups that fail to realize that despite his bizarre vampire affectation he is keeping their children off of the streets, out of gangs, and away from crimes. The Creepshow of Millennium City can be snarky to heroes, but they aren't criminals. 2. The Creepshow of Gold Coast City: The Daughter of Babylon The Daughter of Babylon wields incredible power in The Bucket, nearly rivaling that of the Concierge. Hidden inside one of the Bucket's magnificent casinos, The Daughter of Babylon indulges in sin and vice of all kinds, and encourages her Creeps to do the same. The Daughter, a Haitian woman of astounding beauty named Tachete, traffics in illicit narcotics, prostitution, and even ventures into very repulsive illegal vices such as snuff films and child pornography. The Daughter of Babylon is violent, and are her Creeps. Creepshow of Gold Coast City is a street gang in every sense of the word, and have been a rising problem to the point that even the Overlord Bitter Pill has taken notice and is watching closely. 3. The Creepshow of Darkness Falls: Bekah Swann The Creepshow of Darkness Falls, like their counterparts in Millennium City, are not violent. They model themselves as wizards and sorcerers, basing their attire and activities off of popular novels such as The Magicians, City of Bones, and-of course-the Harry Potter novels. It's all good clean fun, really. The Creeps of the Falls like to spend their time engaged in geo-caching and similar activities. But what the Creeps don't know, and many heroes do, is that Bekah Swann is the real thing. She is the ultimate hedonist and sensualist, teaching her followers about exapnding their consciousnesses with drugs, sex, and other diatribes that society finds shocking. A few heroes have scrapped with Bekah Swann and discovered that she is a master of spatial and analogical magic. Despite the drugs and the sex Bekah's Creeps basically follow Bekah's golden rule: "Be cool." 4. The Creepshow of Wideview: Ogre ''' Raymond Ramirez, The Ogre, is one of the few criminals of Paradigm City that has been operating for 30 years. When he first began his career at the tender age of 20 he was fairly much a nobody, a thug for hire. But now, at 50, Ogre has seen it all and done it in triplicate. By dint of sheer experience alone and his own Creepshow army he could be an Overlord; indeed, Mastermind has offered Ogre such a position and was turned down. Ogre is happiest in Wideview, with his Creepshow. The Creepshow of Wideview are more like a 150 man motorcycle gang than an organized crime group. They have a great time terrorizing citizens, engaging in bar brawls, and hunting down Rats, Chromatic Dragons, and rogue anthropomorphs for sport. They don't involve themselves much in the greater scheme of the Paradigm Conflict but then they don't really need to; Ogre's super-human strength and near-invulnerability combined with his experience makes him a seriously dangerous foe for any heroes but Ogre is content to leave alone if left alone and that's all there is to it. 5. '''The Creepshow of The Slums: The Creep The Creepshow that drift and filter through the ruins of the once majestic Tower District are truly frightening, and present a troubling moral dilemma for superheroes because the Creeps of the Slum are all children. Ranging in ages between nine and nineteen, the Slum Creeps are armed to the teeth with knives, swords, and other slashing weapons. They are murderers, plain and simple. Anyone above the age of 20 is a criminal in their minds and are mercilessly cut down. They even turn on themselves; if a Slum Creep doesn't flee the group on the even of his 20th birthday then he is ritually slaughtered to appease the leader of the Slum Creeps: The Creep. It's not likely that the nightmare called The Creep is human. Its appearance before its juvenile minions is rare but always a cause for celebration when it comes, and The Creep never misses out on a ritual sacrifice in its name. Like a grim reaper The Creep is shrouded in a tattered grey cloak that swirls and bubbles around it as if made of living shadow; shadow from which peeks a leering face pockmarked with rot and decay. The Creep never speaks and never makes any sound at all but a thin cackling and giggling that is unnerving at the very least. Superheroes have tried battling The Creep but find their attacks ineffective and the Creep, giggling and chuckling, just drifts through the nearest wall to escape. Solitaire has speculated that The Creep may be one of the Paradigm City Terrors but one thing is certain: The Creep has an unbreakable hold on its adolescent adorers and will never let them go. 6. The Creepshow of Greene Way: 7. The Creepshow of Skyline City: Machine The Creepshow of Skyline City rightly deserve the name. These social misfits and outcasts have all, to the one, embraced cyber-technology and transformed themselves into hideous mockeries of man and machine. They are wild, brutal, and out of control. They create chaos and devastation in their wake simply because they can. They even go after superheroes; violence and fighting is what the punks, skinheads, and other undesirables seek out. The leader of the Skyline City Creepshow is, himself, a malignancy. He was once that guy, the brilliant doofus everyone liked to pick on. But no more. Machine is an eight foot tall hulking mass of machinery, military grade firepower, and pure rage that readily strides out to the battlefield when challenged. 8. The Creepshow of Raven's Grove: Father Sanctus If one truly wishes to define the Creepshow as creepy, then Father Sanctus stands alone. He rules his Creeps like a cult. In abandoned warehouses or deep in the sewer networks of Raven's Grove lit by hundreds of black candles the Creeps cluster in black robes, swaying gently to Gregorian music whilst Father Sanctum preaches his bizarre philosophies. It's not all just show, either. Father Sanctus is a mentalist with mind control power. He is not quite strong enough psychically to bend the wills of determined superheroes but the minds of the lonely, the depressed, and the suicidal are putty in his hands. His Creeps down to a one all love him (or so they've been told) and would literally die for him. Notable Figures of the Creepshow While each individual Creep is something of an experience for a hero, these following horrors are often too much for them. An encounter with one of these Creeps can cause even the bravest of heroes to bolt upright from deep sleep, their pulses racing and their sweat cold even as the nightmare begins to fade away. Exactly how these creatures came to be associated with Creepshow isn't entirely clear, but it is a fact that Creeps honor and revere these things as if they were religious figures. Lost Laughter is the official founder of the Creepshow though she doesn't even seem to be aware that it exists. In fact, she doesn't seem to be aware of anything. She simply walks slowly, a cloaked mime who's black and white face makeup can't quite hide the savage mutilations on the face underneath it. Nobody seems to know what or who she is. She's certainly never violent. She never makes a sound save for the soft falls of her feet and the swish of the hem of her cloak. She doesn't respond to hails and attempts to restrain her just see her walk insubstantially through any object in her way. But everywhere she goes, insanity follows. The strong willed may only experience a brief moment of panic, but the mentally weak can go into a full psychotic break. Even the Gaslight Society has no explanation for this bizarre creature. Solitaire of Heroes Unlimited has speculated that Lost Laughter may in fact be one of the Spirits of Paradigm, a physical manifestation of the madness, pain, and sorrow that blankets Paradigm City. Bodycast, in contrast to Lost Laughter, is a image of true horror. He..she..it? Is a humanoid figure wrapped in a black bondage suit, arms restrained in straitjacket style. Broken legs cause the figure to shamble and tilt ungainly, and some swear they can hear sobbing coming from under the leather padded hood, complete with black ball gag. To add to the horror, Bodycast's entire form bleeds from the nails driven into it and barbed wire woven around it. Worse, wherever Bodycast shambles fires break out. Whole neighborhoods have burned as this tragic..thing stumbled, leans, and drags itself along the streets of The Row in Millennium City. It is said that Scarecrow, the Overlord of the Row, created this monster. Others say that he, the man without fear, is just as afraid of it as everyone else is. The Monster is the only name given to the nightmare known in Darkness Falls. It has no other name. It doesn't need one. Sometimes, only just sometimes, when fierce ocean storm hurtle Darkness Falls into a torrent of heavy rain, impossible winds, and jagged arcs of lightning at night The Monster appears. The creature is nine feet tall, wearing an outfit rather like a priest or undertaker of the Wild West complete with floppy brimmed hat and ankle-length trench coat. Under that hat is a twisted green skull with blazing red eyes. It's booming laughter can be heard all over the city, sending people fleeing indoors in terror. Woe be to anyone caught alone by The Monster for wherever he goes death follows. His victims are always found eviscerated and torn apart, their hearts and livers missing. Crybaby, a horror in a Wideview full of scary things, has frightened children so much that she has become an actual Urban Myth. The children of Wideview have a rhyme about her when they skip rope: Crybaby Crybaby living in your dream if you see her don't ever scream If you scream and catch her eye Crybaby Crybaby makes you die. They aren't wrong. This little monstrosity appears as a six or seven year old girl in a tattered dress, clutching a beheaded teddy bear, and weeping black fluid from her empty eye-sockets. She's a child killer, appearing deserted playgrounds, schools, and other places children congregate. And true to the rhyme, should the person whom sees her scream they are always found dead, their eyes and tongue missing.